DC we are not prepared and it National Preparedness month
In front of Councilperson Mendelson Public Saftey Committee on February 23, 2010 both Former HSEMA directors Barbara Childs_Pair, and Peter LePort testified that in their opinion under the present administration the role of DC Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency has become a second tier outpost and that the Mayor himself needs to become more active. This testimony was covered in Report on PR 18-631at the Public Hearing for the current HSEMA Director.
Their point was that we could have the best person for the job which they both said Milicent Williams will be and I agree as I testified on her behalf as well; However without the Mayor's involvement there is little any director can do. This should have been front page news. Yet is is buried and I will take it some are just hearing this for the first time.
Think about this during the recent snow storm the District Never Declared a State of Emergency. Which means we have to fanagle the Stafford act to get the funding for our non disaster disaster. BTW from just a snow storm operation level I believe Chris Mathews best summed it up.
Flash forward to a recent summit on Crisidata experts from around the world gathered in the District including the Director of FEMA Graig Feugate and everyone was there to talk about how Emergencies or in the parlance "All Hazards" have become 2.0'd because the Citizen is 2.0ized. During this one of the Experts sent
This message was seen by the world asking for someone for DC Gov was at it or even online since it was on CSPAN, the WEB and every #socailmedia known to man and no one every answered. This is a big deal in more ways then I can explain in this blog post. So Click Here
So Folks we not only have housing and financial issues we have Safety and Preparedness issue. Here is the Irony It's National Preparedness Month and this years is about engage then community in preparation response and recovery from All Hazards. DC is doing stuff sure. It's training other Federal Agencies and a couple of CERT classes. HELLO, the Mayor in DC's Emergency Operation Plan "EOP" Is the Incident Commander "IC" Under Williams we had one of the best and our EMA,Citizen Corp and Serve were national examples too. Now not so much
To me if instead of riding his bicycle lapping the afternoon away at the public pool the Mayor our IC could be leading a Citizen training or being there for a group of citizen who take a class like CERT which is Community Emergency Response Team.
Many of our 1st Responders, I know are good if not some of them great public servants and they deserve a Mayor that treats public safety as import as he does his work out schedule. You may not like my politics and how I turn a phrase however if you want to the best chance for you and your family and this City to make it through what we say is not an will it happen event, but a when it does then you better start to take notice of who is backing the other guy and why.
Look for yourself Vincegrayformayor.com/endorsements/ Anyone can see the 1st Responders are not with the Mayor and many of them are leaving the District and we dont want to have novices saving our lives Why this issue has gotten no press must be because some are too afraid to talk about it. I am too afraid to open my eyes after a major weather or worse event takes out DC and know I did not do enough to warn others.
So what do I know, I have been part of many of the District training and response to national disasters since 911. I currently have Certificates from the Red Cross in Mass Care, Intro to Disaster Services & Shelter Simulation. From HSEMA & DHS's ICS 100 300 400 NIMS. Prevention & Response to Suicide Bombings Incidents and Incident Response to Terrorist Bombings and from back in the day Openwater and Mountian Rescues Certs too. My company wrote the 2007 Family Emergency Preparedness Guide, I have sat at the ESF 16 Desk during Federal Mulit-State /Agency exercises I was part of the District Citizen Corps Council and I even got a community award for the Mayor Williams; So this is more then from the heart.
FYI
National Preparedness Month 2010 What is National Preparedness Month (NPM)? September is National Preparedness Month! This awareness month is sponsored by the Ready Campaign in partnership with Citizen Corps and the Ad Council. NPM is designed to encourage Americans to take simple steps to prepare for emergencies in their homes, businesses, and communities. Ready.gov
Their point was that we could have the best person for the job which they both said Milicent Williams will be and I agree as I testified on her behalf as well; However without the Mayor's involvement there is little any director can do. This should have been front page news. Yet is is buried and I will take it some are just hearing this for the first time.
I will bet this blog that Mayor Fenty has more time in the Wilson Pool then he does in our Emergency Management HQ.
Think about this during the recent snow storm the District Never Declared a State of Emergency. Which means we have to fanagle the Stafford act to get the funding for our non disaster disaster. BTW from just a snow storm operation level I believe Chris Mathews best summed it up.
"Why can't a government town do a government job?" he asked. "It looked like Siberia without the Siberian discipline. We had the weather of Buffalo with the snowplowing capability of Miami."
Flash forward to a recent summit on Crisidata experts from around the world gathered in the District including the Director of FEMA Graig Feugate and everyone was there to talk about how Emergencies or in the parlance "All Hazards" have become 2.0'd because the Citizen is 2.0ized. During this one of the Experts sent
This message was seen by the world asking for someone for DC Gov was at it or even online since it was on CSPAN, the WEB and every #socailmedia known to man and no one every answered. This is a big deal in more ways then I can explain in this blog post. So Click Here
So Folks we not only have housing and financial issues we have Safety and Preparedness issue. Here is the Irony It's National Preparedness Month and this years is about engage then community in preparation response and recovery from All Hazards. DC is doing stuff sure. It's training other Federal Agencies and a couple of CERT classes. HELLO, the Mayor in DC's Emergency Operation Plan "EOP" Is the Incident Commander "IC" Under Williams we had one of the best and our EMA,Citizen Corp and Serve were national examples too. Now not so much
To me if instead of riding his bicycle lapping the afternoon away at the public pool the Mayor our IC could be leading a Citizen training or being there for a group of citizen who take a class like CERT which is Community Emergency Response Team.
Many of our 1st Responders, I know are good if not some of them great public servants and they deserve a Mayor that treats public safety as import as he does his work out schedule. You may not like my politics and how I turn a phrase however if you want to the best chance for you and your family and this City to make it through what we say is not an will it happen event, but a when it does then you better start to take notice of who is backing the other guy and why.
Look for yourself Vincegrayformayor.com/endorsements/ Anyone can see the 1st Responders are not with the Mayor and many of them are leaving the District and we dont want to have novices saving our lives Why this issue has gotten no press must be because some are too afraid to talk about it. I am too afraid to open my eyes after a major weather or worse event takes out DC and know I did not do enough to warn others.
So what do I know, I have been part of many of the District training and response to national disasters since 911. I currently have Certificates from the Red Cross in Mass Care, Intro to Disaster Services & Shelter Simulation. From HSEMA & DHS's ICS 100 300 400 NIMS. Prevention & Response to Suicide Bombings Incidents and Incident Response to Terrorist Bombings and from back in the day Openwater and Mountian Rescues Certs too. My company wrote the 2007 Family Emergency Preparedness Guide, I have sat at the ESF 16 Desk during Federal Mulit-State /Agency exercises I was part of the District Citizen Corps Council and I even got a community award for the Mayor Williams; So this is more then from the heart.
FYI
National Preparedness Month 2010 What is National Preparedness Month (NPM)? September is National Preparedness Month! This awareness month is sponsored by the Ready Campaign in partnership with Citizen Corps and the Ad Council. NPM is designed to encourage Americans to take simple steps to prepare for emergencies in their homes, businesses, and communities. Ready.gov
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